The 5 funniest hairdressing movies of all time
There are a million hairdressing movies and thousands of comedies dedicated to salon antics. So I decided to sit through them all so you don’t have to. After months of research watching such hilarious hairdressing movies as Sweeney Todd and scouring B movies for zombie hairdressers, I’ve whittled them down to a succinct five of the funniest films that every hairdresser should see.
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan
Every decade or so, the great Adam Sandler releases a genuinely funny film. The 90s had the Wedding Singer and this was his best of the noughties. The 2010s brought us… well it’s only 2017, so there’s time yet. But Zohan is truly one of the funniest hairdressing movies ever.
In this typically crude but hilarious film, Sandler plays Zohan, an Israeli special forces agent with crazy spy skills. His real dream though is to go to America and become a hairdresser to make people silky smooth, like Mr Paul Mitchell.
Whilst in battle with his Palestinian nemesis The Phantom, he fakes his own death and escapes to the States to pursue his hairdressing career. Promptly turned down by top New York salons, including Paul Mitchell and Vidal Sassoon he ends up in a backstreet salon as a cleaner, before becoming a stylist who’s also a hit with the elderly clientele.
Blow Dry
This small but starry British comedy features the great Alan Rickman as Phil Allen, a has been barber, whose ambition is reinvigorated when the National Hair Championships are held in his small town. Previously a star of the competition circuit, Allen surprises the big name hairdressers by entering the competition. The competition is really the backdrop for the lives of Allen’s friends and family including his son played by josh Hartnett, supported by roles from Rachael Leigh Cook, Natasha Richardson, Rachel Griffiths and supermodel Heidi Klum.
Blow Dry is a typically English film, with a dry performance from Rickman and an obvious plot, but there’s some cracking jokes and situations, and it’s well worth a watch.
Barbershop
In this 2002 film, Calvin, played by Ice Cube inherits a struggling barbershop and views it as a waste of his time. After selling the shop to a local loan shark, Calvin starts to understand his father’s love for the place, its customers and its place in the community. The film is a funny portrayal of a south side Chicago neighbourhood barbershop and the characters that frequent it.
The Big Tease
Craig Ferguson goes against type to play a camp Scottish hairdresser (never met one of those), Crawford Mackinzie in this hidden gem of a movie. Crawford receives an invitation from the World Hairdresser International Federation to its annual competition in L.A.
Crawford is accompanied by Martin Samuels, a fly-on-the-wall documentary maker who follows the action in a mockumentary style. He soon discovers that he’s only been invited as an audience member, not a contestant and consequently runs around trying to wrangle his way into the competition.
One of those films you discover in the middle of the night and end up staying up way past your bedtime to watch, this hs some brilliantly funny moments. The over the top competition hairstyles at the end are worth staying up until 2am alone!
Coming to America
Back in the day when Eddie Murphy could do no wrong and was the funniest man on the planet he made Coming to America. For my money, the barbershop scenes still stand as the funniest 6 minutes and 40 seconds of very loosely based hairdressing humour, and are funnier than many films in their entirety, including Barbershop.
Murphy plays Clarence the old-time neighbourhood barber as well as his Jewish friend Saul, who bounce off Arsenio Hall’s Morris and Clint Smith’s Sweets during their deep and hilarious discussions about boxing. Watch out for a young Cuba Gooding Jnr in the chair at the beginning of the clip too! There’s also plenty of jokes about hair products, naturally.
MHD – The Greatest Hairdressing Movies on the Planet!
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